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A tangled desert shrub of shallow soils whose branches darken when wet.
Blackbrush is an intricately branched shrub of shallow sandy to clay desert soils. Its branches darken when wet, which gives it its name. Small leaves grow in opposite pairs and are drought-deciduous: the plant drops them when conditions are too dry and grows them back when moisture returns.
Most of the world's blackbrush grows in Utah. It depends on rodents to plant its seeds; look for burrows beneath the shrubs. The National Park Service says historic photos show only 1% of the blackbrush at Arches died over 100 years, and some plants may be thousands of years old.
At Arches it flowers in April and May.
A drought-tolerant evergreen with scale-covered twigs, fibrous bark, and berry-like cones that feed wildlife.
A broad-crowned river tree whose new generations depend on the right combination of flowing water, exposed sediment, and moisture.
A flexible-stemmed native shrub whose late-season yellow flowers extend feeding opportunities for pollinators.